Pagina principaleGruppiConversazioniAltroStatistiche
Cerca nel Sito
Questo sito utilizza i cookies per fornire i nostri servizi, per migliorare le prestazioni, per analisi, e (per gli utenti che accedono senza fare login) per la pubblicità. Usando LibraryThing confermi di aver letto e capito le nostre condizioni di servizio e la politica sulla privacy. Il tuo uso del sito e dei servizi è soggetto a tali politiche e condizioni.

Risultati da Google Ricerca Libri

Fai clic su di un'immagine per andare a Google Ricerca Libri.

Sto caricando le informazioni...

Letters to Véra

di Vladimir Nabokov

UtentiRecensioniPopolaritàMedia votiCitazioni
1701159,033 (3.69)3
"A collection of letters between Vladimir Nabokov and his wife, Vera"--
Sto caricando le informazioni...

Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro.

Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro.

» Vedi le 3 citazioni

A Bottle of Ink, a Speck of Sun, and You
Given Nabokov's penchant for creating a fictitious persona to present to the world, his early letters are a rare glimpse of the man before he has achieved wealth, fame, and a polished facade. These letters to Vera, small masterpieces, are a rare gift.

This review should come with a warning: I'm highly conflicted about the works of Vladimir Nabokov. In a college class I was once asked to read a selection of paragraphs by various famous authors, without knowing the authors' actual names. I loved all of the selections with the exception of one hideously overwrought landscape description, that was clearly pure kitsch. To this day I despise the source of the quote: Nabokov's "Lolita." Yet one of my all time favorite books is his "Speak Memory." Another is "The Gift." How could the same writer produce both styles?

When I read Brian Boyd's masterful biography of Nabokov, I loved volume 1 about Nabokov the Russian writer, and hated volume 2 about Nabokov the American novelist. Not because of Boyd, but because of the subject. After achieving wealth and fame with "Lolita," Nabokov's self presentations in interviews are particularly egregious: dishonest, arrogant, and great fun to read. Nabokov delighted in hoaxes, doubles, mimicry, and disguises. So I'm grateful that Brian Boyd, with his wealth of knowledge about the "real" Nabokov, was willing to work with the translator Olga Voronina on annotating Nabokov's "Letters to Vera," his fiercely devoted wife. While fact-oriented, Boyd is still dutifully respectful of both the author and his wife. Michael Maar's "Speak, Nabokov," is a useful antidote to the usual hagiography. Maar was the first to point out the obscure German work by Lichberg that foreshadows "Lolita" in terms of subject matter and title. Not the object of direct plagiarism, but a surprising source for an author who claimed not to know the German language.

Is learning about the man from his letters a breach of privacy? Even the early letters were definitely intended to be kept and reread. In fact, he altered his style after re-reading some of the first letters to Vera. Some observations worked their way into his poetry.(p. 248/716) He once visualized what the correspondence with look like as a published volume, and chided Vera that her part would look too small, she should write more. He was self-aware that letters by a writer have special interest. He expected them to be read by German censors at the very least, and used a pseudonym for himself and coded language in certain passages. I don't think this volume represents an invasion of privacy. Anything compromising has been destroyed already by the vigilant Vera herself.

The letters make many things clear, that contradict later protestations: yes, he understood German. He was delighted to be called the new Rilke.(p.236) Yes, he enjoyed music. He used numerous musical references.(p.23, p. 102) No, his marriage was not totally "cloudless." He was quite capable of lying to Vera about his encounters with others. (letters from 1937.)

I once talked with Nina Berberova about him. She was one of the early readers who discovered his genius when he was a penniless emigre poet giving readings in Paris. She was not overly fond of Vera, and she felt that Nabokov was hiding things. Some of his early personality, the personality that enchanted Berberova comes through in the first part of this volume.

There is an endearing lightness in the letters written before 1940. Some have a Rilke-like inflection: "All the rivers have been waiting for your reflection." (p. 8)Often still boyish, he speculates that heaven will be boring as smoking is forbidden, but the angels smoke in secret. When the archangel is looking, they flick the cigarettes away--that's what falling stars are.... Perhaps in a riff on Omar's famous loaf of bread, bottle of wine and thou, "I need so little: a bottle of ink, a speck of sun on the floor --and you" (p. 35)I won't cite all of my favorite lines, always best for readers to encounter them unexpectedly. I hope this is enough to indicate that finding the "real" Nabokov, under all those self-protective layers--is worth the effort. ( )
  ElenaDanielson | Nov 12, 2015 |
nessuna recensione | aggiungi una recensione
Devi effettuare l'accesso per contribuire alle Informazioni generali.
Per maggiori spiegazioni, vedi la pagina di aiuto delle informazioni generali.
Titolo canonico
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
Titolo originale
Titoli alternativi
Data della prima edizione
Personaggi
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
Luoghi significativi
Eventi significativi
Film correlati
Epigrafe
Dedica
Incipit
Citazioni
Ultime parole
Nota di disambiguazione
Redattore editoriale
Elogi
Dati dalle informazioni generali inglesi. Modifica per tradurlo nella tua lingua.
Lingua originale
DDC/MDS Canonico
LCC canonico

Risorse esterne che parlano di questo libro

Wikipedia in inglese

Nessuno

"A collection of letters between Vladimir Nabokov and his wife, Vera"--

Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche

Descrizione del libro
Riassunto haiku

Discussioni correnti

Nessuno

Copertine popolari

Link rapidi

Voto

Media: (3.69)
0.5
1
1.5
2 2
2.5
3 1
3.5
4 2
4.5 1
5 2

Sei tu?

Diventa un autore di LibraryThing.

 

A proposito di | Contatto | LibraryThing.com | Privacy/Condizioni d'uso | Guida/FAQ | Blog | Negozio | APIs | TinyCat | Biblioteche di personaggi celebri | Recensori in anteprima | Informazioni generali | 202,660,807 libri! | Barra superiore: Sempre visibile